FASSTEST

FASS Centre for Scholarship and Innovation logo

FASSTEST brings together colleagues from across the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, providing a mechanism for professional development through practice-based scholarship within a mentored community.

Much of our work is organised on a project basis with project management aimed at the delivery of new educational outcomes and scholarship outcomes. FASSTEST supports a rolling portfolio of approximately 40 active scholarship projects under a number of themes which include:

  • Online and blended tuition
  • Assessment
  • Employability/careers
  • Equality, diversity and inclusion
  • Mental health and wellbeing
  • Multisensory/multimodal learning

If you are interested in learning more about a particular project or connecting with a project team, please contact us at FASS-Scholarship@open.ac.uk. 

Projects

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6 results found

Teaching Critical Thinking Skills

Project leader(s):  Sue Nieland Ian McGarry Amita Sen-Gupta

In the age of digital information and high levels of technology in academic life, critical thinking skills are not just considered as an element of academic literacy; they have been interpreted in terms of the ability to use Microsoft Office and reference managing software effectively when underg

Developing an Approach to Networked Audio for Distance Learning in Music Practice

Project leader(s):  Sean Williams Naomi Barker

This project examines the use of networked technologies for group music practice, within the context of a small group of 3-7 players.

Communication Strategies and the Tutor-Student Relationship

Project leader(s):  Wendy Humphreys Vicky Johnson

One of the findings of our completed project, The Quality of Tutor-Student Early contact in Post Level 1 Modules, was the extreme variation in both the interpretation and practice of tutors, in terms of early communication within a module.

Better Understanding Study Motivation and Module Choice

Project leader(s):  Suzanne Forbes Elayne Chaplin Sara Wolfson

This project is concerned with identifying the reasons for falling new student registrations on a second-year History module with a view to supporting module teams in developing effective interventions.

Arts-based Collaborative Digital Eco-Pedagogies for Teaching about the Climate Crisis and Intersecting Global Challenges in Higher and Distance Education

Project leader(s):  Maria Nita Yoseph Araya

The project aims to start a cross-faculty conversation about the current use of novel reflective, digital, public engagement and teaching methodologies in Higher and distance education (Cooke, Araya, Bacon, et al. 2021; Walsh and Powell, 2019).

The OU and Scotland’s Colleges’ Collaborative Teaching Partnership: An Evaluation

Project leader(s):  Gerry Mooney Janet Cole Iain Macpherson Steven McGeever Khadija Patel

The primary purpose of the proposed project was to: